The In-Between Times: HR Tech Must Adjust to Conferences and Business Travel

Today, we are occupying a liminal space, where we can begin to see the end of the pandemic, or at least begin to figure out what this “new normal” really means. Instead of predicting the new normal, we look around, and we begin to see it for ourselves. 

But just because the future of the past is meeting up with the present of today does not mean that we have the whole picture. We won’t have that for a little while.

But we do know that some employees are heading back to work in the workplace, some are remaining at home, some meetings are in person, some remain remote, and employees and employers alike are trying to reconcile their personal beliefs with mandates coming from all different levels.

The return of the in-person conference

Annual conferences that were put on hold in 2020 or moved to zoom rooms are slowly coming back in person. In order for this transition to take place smoothly, conference organizers must be communicative and transparent about their plans.

If a conference is held in person, what can attendees expect in order to secure their safety and peace of mind?  Are all attendees asked to be vaccinated, or to get tested for COVID-19 before attending?

At Mitratech, we’re excited about upcoming conferences.  But preparing for them as the Delta variant surges has been tricky. Whenever there is an opportunity for in-person events we ask our teams what they are comfortable with. We get lots of different answers.

Those who make the decision to host in person meetings or go on-site are supported with masks, sanitizer, and our commitment to their mental and physical health.  Those who choose not to go to those events are supported with clever ways to use video-conferencing and also our commitment to their mental and physical health.

Don’t get us wrong: we are thrilled to go back to in-person events. We love seeing our customers, meeting experts who have fresh takes on old issues, learning from experts, and building our Mitratech family… but this year, we’re doing it very carefully.

Requiring vaccination – and, equally, not requiring it – brings up many different ethical questions, which affect everyone on both the level of the individual and also as a collective. 

[bctt tweet=”As conferences update their requirements with rules around vaccination, prospective attendees may be turned on or off by those requirements. ” via=”no”]

Thinking through transparency

As a result, as conferences update their requirements with rules around vaccination, prospective attendees may be turned on or off by those requirements. The same is true for in-person work more generally: someone who was hired on in 2019 for an outside sales role may no longer be comfortable with in-person meetings. How does that shift the role, the expectations of the role, and the expectations of the company?

The answer may be simpler than anticipated: we should follow the results. There have been many accounts of remote meetings and events being just as useful as in-person; there have been accounts of the opposite. The most important thing to keep in mind is that employers need to encourage their teams to do what is working for them, and if something stops working, to adjust.

Workflow automation can be a simple way to track what works and what compliance means to a particular company, team, or conference. Those who plan conferences must be upfront and transparent about their requirements, and these requirements must be enforceable. How to make it easy? Ask for confirmation of vaccination in the sign-up forms, and include a waiver for those who decide to attend. Even if the waiver does not hold up in court, it is a good way to help conference-goers think about their decisions and the possible consequences.

The same is true internally: By having employees update their preferences and comfort level through a workflow platform, employers have a much easier time managing expectations and understanding the various pressures that their employees face.